Posts from the ‘Voting’ Category

By Jaron Castranio, Senior Political Science major, California University of Pennsylvania

Fair Districts PA is a citizen-led coalition, which is affiliated with the League of Women Voters. Its mission is to reform the Pennsylvania redistricting process so it will be “transparent, impartial and fair.”

Suzanne Broughton, a former president of the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh, engaged California University of Pennsylvania students, faculty, and administrators in a discussion of the consequences of partisan gerrymandering. She placed the blame on both major political parties, explaining how the one that controls the process draws congressional and state legislative district lines to its own benefit. She told the audience how they can make a difference by contacting their state representatives and senators about two bills currently being considered. Broughton said that gerrymandering should be a concern for everyone who cares about fair representation.

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On January 30, TurboVote teamed up with AASCU’s American Democracy Project (ADP) and The Democracy Commitment (TDC) for a rich, conversation-style webinar with civic engagement professionals across the country. We invited all campuses which are both TurboVote partners and members of ADP or TDC and tried something a bit new for the format. We threw away our pre-set slide decks and brought participants into a virtual “room” together using a video conferencing platform (think: Brady Bunch-style squares on a screen!).

Apart from some prepared questions, we left it up to our experienced partners from across the country to share best practices and workshop challenges with each other in preparation for the 2018 midterm elections.

Read on for some of our favorite tidbits from the conversation…

What’s one thing you wish you knew when you started?For our icebreaker, we asked the group about the biggest thing they wish they had known when they started doing campus voter engagement work. Since the room was a mix of newcomers and seasoned pros, everyone had something useful to share.

Have realistic expectations.This is tough work! Instead of thinking you’ll get every student registered to vote, look at national numbers and averages to determine what success means for you. – Justin Wellner, California Polytechnic State University

Widespread campuses + multiple counties = a complex voter registration situationWith a college or university spanning multiple counties and many towns, there won’t be a one-size-fits-all student voter situation. Be prepared for keeping track of many election authorities and dozens of polling locations.
– Mary Frances Archey, Community College of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

A great strategy can set you up for success.Forethought and planning are the keys to making voter engagement on campus a year-round pursuit, not just an election-time thought.
– Abe Goldberg, James Madison University

How do you get more students engaged in this work on campus?While our partners are all deeply committed to getting more students to vote on campus, having the students as collaborators and co-leaders of the work is of the utmost importance, as well. So…how does that happen, and what are some ideas for how to do it better?

Incentivize participation.Giving students credit for voter registration work by reflecting the effort on their student engagement transcript is a great way to further entice students to become engaged.
– Mary Frances Archey, Community College of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Ally with student government.If there’s not a group dedicated to voting work on campus, reach out to the one organization which students vote for each year—student government! Their members can be great collaborators to show students the effect of a vote; making the connection that low voter turnout for student government elections and national low turnout can highlight how participation matters for students.
– Mariel Pagán, Montclair State University

Nonpartisan student organizations can institutionalize efforts.Encouraging the initiation and growth of student groups focused on getting out the vote, as opposed to partisan-aligned organizations, can give students a home for their efforts, year after year. Dukes Votes at JMU is a great example of this type of effort.
– Jen Domagal-Goldman, ADP

What are innovative strategies to get students to the polls?Getting an entire campus to vote on Election Day may seem daunting, but with these ideas, a campus can make it easy and fun.

Meet students where they are…on Instagram and Snapchat!Social media is ubiquitous in students’ lives these days, so why not lean into it to get out the vote? Placing a filter on Instagram and Snapchat on Election Day gives students a reminder to head to the polls and a way to post about it so their friends see, too.
– Carly Schmitt, Indiana State University

Give students an online place to talk about the election.At a school with multiple campuses, virtual spaces can often be the best place to convene students. CCAC, a community college with four campuses and four centers, created a Facebook group as the schoolwide Democracy Board where students can start discussions about national issues and post alerts about upcoming elections.
– Mary Frances Archey, Community College of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Turn Election Day into a celebration.Voting is fun! Show students it is by hosting an event like a Party at the Polls or giving out unique stickers. For example, you can create first-time voter or campus-specific stickers, like “I’m a [insert mascot]. I voted.”
– Jen Domagal-Goldman, ADP

Photo credit: James Madison University

Great ideas from a great group of partners! Thank you to all of our ADP/TDC/TurboVote participants—calling in from Illinois, Virginia, Michigan, New Jersey, and California—who dove into the discussion with examples from their own work and left with a full plate of ideas from their peers around the country.

If you’re interested in learning more about how TurboVote can support voter engagement on your campus, we’d love to chat! Drop us a note at partnerships@turbovote.org.

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The Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University was featured in an article in the front section of the Sunday New York Times, “How College Campuses Are Trying to Tap Students’ Voting Power.” The article highlights their groundbreaking research and work on campuses, along with the work of many of their partner organizations, campuses, and educators. It reflects a growing realization in higher education that for too long, political learning and engagement has been episodic and relegated to a small subset of programs and students. NSLVE is a wake-up call. We hope that campuses will share this article, use their reports, assess their campus climates for political learning and engagement, treat elections as teachable moments, and work to cultivate a positive climate for political learning, discourse, equity, and participation – Politics 365!

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By Lane Perry, Director of the Center for Service Learning, Western Carolina University (N.C.)

According to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), collegiate student voter engagement increased from 45.1% in 2012 to 48.3% in 2016. While clearly increasing, these rates still did not cross the 52% threshold achieved in 2008. While nationally there was clearly a percentage increase in college-level voters in 2016, Western Carolina University (WCU) experienced a decline. There were exceptional and sustained efforts through the institution’s preparation and response to the 2016 election (e.g., with support from the Andrew Goodman Foundation, N.C. Campus Compact, Campus Vote Project and many other organizations there was a successful petition for the first-ever on-campus polling place with record level voting, registration efforts that registered over 2,500 voters, over 50 educational programs on candidates, issues, and the voting process, a marketing campaign which included billboards, voter tip videos, bi-weekly newsletters, a “get out the vote” video by our Chancellor, and more). Despite the Student Democracy Coalitions best efforts, these concerted efforts could not keep up with or overcome the divisive, disengaging political climate or the nearly 20% increase in the size of the Catamount student body from 2012 to 2016 (note: according to NSLVE data, student enrollments went from 8,945 eligible student voters in 2012 to 10,462 eligible student voters in 2016, which represents an 18% increase).

Members of the Student Democracy Coalition Lead Voter Registration Efforts at WCU.

This reality led to a gut check for me and critical reflection on our efforts. It sometimes feels like there is a cooling of our political climate. Meaning, that while current, peer-reviewed scientific research points to the extreme warming and unprecedented changing of our earth’s temperatures, there seems to be specifically a cooling of our political climate. In this analogy, we want our students to be (or become) warm to the idea of civic engagement. On campuses across the US there is a concerted effort to do this; that is to instill the imperative values associated with active civic engagement. But, like how Band-Aids will not heal a broken arm or how donning a tank-top in November will not ameliorate global climate change, voter registration drives and polling places on campuses, alone, will not address civic engagement or our democracy. What we need is a shift from an “I the person…” mentality to a revitalization of a “We the people…” mentality, which can lead to a more appreciative understanding of the experiences within our community. Parker Palmer notes as a foundation of America and our politics, “that conflict and tension, rightly held, are the engine, not the enemy of a better social order. By holding our differences with hospitality instead of hostility, we can act on that premise, rebuild our civic community, and hold power accountable to the will of the people.” While this statement was made in 2012, it could not be more relevant in our current climate.

In response to WCU’s NSLVE report and concomitant reflection, the Center for Service Learning prepared a Special Report on Student Voting Habits from 2012 and 2016 Presidential Electionswith the greater intention to lean into and learn from our data. This report utilizes data from the NSLVE report on voter registration and voter engagement rates to determine WCU student participation in these elections as evidenced by voting. Furthermore, this report serves as a resource that has shaped current and will shape future conversations around WCU’s commitment and response to student civic engagement.

Participants at the 2016 “Get Out the Vote Party,” which Motivated Over 400 Voters to the On-Campus Polling Place in a Single Day.

To move beyond responding to symptoms and to try and move closer to the actual source of the challenge, WCU developed the Civic Action Plan, which explicitly institutionalizes and advances student engagement within a civic context through the Student Democracy Coalition, the Critical Cultural Competence Certificate, and the Faculty Institute on Community Engagement (see WCU’s CAP for descriptions of these programs).

WCU’s CAP is framed by the five Principles from Campus Compact, which serve as a set of stars, and together a constellation, for assisting institutions in navigating both charted and uncharted waters by illuminating and responding to a core purpose of higher education – preparing an engaged citizenry for a lasting democracy. This plan essentially builds on a decade of collaborative work between WCU and the American Democracy Project that strives to prepare graduates who are committed to engaging in meaningful actions as citizens of our democracy. In this, universities do what we are qualified and called to do. We do what works best. That is, we clarify goals, organize support and resources, engage, engage, engage, and ultimately lean into and learn from our experiences and the collective experiences of others.

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ADP along with Metropolitan State University of Denver were honored last week at the first ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Awards Ceremony. More than 40 ADP campuses also earned seals of achievement.

The American Democracy Project (ADP) is a multi-campus initiative focused on public higher education’s role in preparing the next generation of informed, engaged citizens for our democracy. The project began in 2003 as an initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), in partnership with The New York Times.

The goal of the American Democracy Project is to produce graduates who are committed to being knowledgeable, involved citizens in their communities. Since its inception, ADP has hosted 13 national and 18 regional meetings, a national assessment project, and hundreds of campus initiatives including voter education and registration, curriculum revision projects, campus audits, special days of action and reflection, speaker series and many recognition and award programs.